um which might follow from such an
accusation.

EXECUTION OF THE THIRTY-EIGHT CONDEMNED INDIANS.

The result of the matter was that the order of the president was obeyed,
and on the 26th of December, 1862, thirty-eight of the condemned Indians
were executed, by hanging, at Mankato, one having been pardoned by the
president. Contemporaneous history, or, rather, general public
knowledge, of what actually occurred, says that the pardoned Indian was
hanged, and one of the others liberated by mistake. As an historian, I
do not assert this to be true, but as a citizen, thoroughly well
informed of current events at the time of this execution, I believe it
to be a fact. The hanging of the thirty-eight was done on one gallows,
constructed in a square form, capable of sustaining ten men on each
side. They were placed upon a platform facing inwards, and dropped all
at once by the cutting of a rope. The execution was successful in all
its details, and reflects credit on the ingenuity and engineering skill
of Captain Burt of Stillwater, who was intrusted with the construction
of the deadly machine. The rest of the condemned Indians were, after
some time, taken down to Davenport in Iowa, and held in confinement
until the excitement had generally subsided, when they were sent west of
the Missouri and set free. An Indian never forgets what he regards as an
injury, and never forgives an enemy. It is my opinion that all the
troubles that have taken place since the liberation of these Indians,
with the tribes inhabiting the western plains and mountains, up to a
recent date, have grown out of the evil counsels of these savages. The
only proper course to have pursued with them, when it was decided not to
hang them, was to have exiled them to some remote post,--say, the Dry
Tortugas,--where communication with their people would have been
impossible, set them to work on fortifications or other public works,
and allowed them to pass out by life limitation.

The execution of these Indians practically terminated the campaign for
the year 1862, no other event worthy of detailed record having occurred;
but the Indian war was far from being over, and it was deemed prudent to
keep within the state a sufficient force of troops to successfully
resist all further attacks, and to inaugurate an aggressive campaign in
the coming year. The whole of the Sixth, Seventh and Tenth Regiments,
the Mounted Rangers, some artillery organizations, scouts a